23 Nov

Here’s Why Today’s Leaders Should Choose “And” Thinking

By admin In Career Transition, Future of work, HR, Leadership, Talent Development /   No Comments

HR Strategy, Work Culture by Elizabeth K. Olson
To the detriment of talent development and work cultures everywhere, we most often employ “either/or” thinking. Let’s talk about why today’s leaders should more often choose “and” thinking….

So many important aspects of human capital are nuanced and interrelated, yet seemingly polar opposites. For instance, recognizing the individual performer or recognizing team efforts. Showing respect for each person or showing respect based on performance and rewarding managerial-style performance or rewarding leaders.

Some organizations state only half of these pairs as desired values, hence the “or” between them. This is a mistake because when we see these values framed as either/or choices, we miss the synergy from leveraging the best from both sides. We cause harm from overfocusing on one value to the neglect of the other. After all, many values are interdependent, and ideas we think might be opposites are both highly desirable. The misleading part about this is that they need to live in tension with one another over time. These pairings can be called paradoxes, wicked problems, or polarities that require “and thinking.”

“And” Thinking Versus “Or” Thinking

Both inside and outside of work, complexities exist that require us to think about these tensions between seemingly opposing pairs, rather than choosing A over B. For instance, one critical thinking point for leaders is the push-pull between continuity and transformation.

Those business leaders often find themselves executing complex change initiatives that enable their companies to compete better. At the same time, they must create and maintain consistent foundational cultures employees can lean into – no matter what. All too often, when the message is only why complex changes are necessary, without acknowledging what has been going well (and what needs to remain in place), even the best plans blow up.

Everything done “the old way” is now wrong. Right?

This pervasive contradiction lowers morale and confuses, thereby sabotaging the energy and focus needed to implement the change.

Centralized Versus Decentralized Coordination

One of the biggest derailers for employees is the pendulum swing between centralized coordination and decentralized coordination. Organizations are frequently in a seesaw around this polarity. It’s as if one is better than the other, so they over-focus on one at the expense of the other.

For instance, a new chief executive officer is instituted and says: “We’ve lost the entrepreneurial nature of this organization, and we must decentralize and give control to each of the business units.” Because centralization and decentralization are interrelated, people complain there is no coordination and little ability to share services effectively. That causes the next CEO to say: “We have to centralize; everything is all over the map. Nobody knows who’s on first.” After finally getting used to the new structure, it whipsaws back to some version of the old one. With the average tenure of CEOs being three-and-a-half years, organizations must simultaneously focus on centralization and decentralization.

The Solution: Mapping Versus Gapping

One way around this conundrum is to institute a mapping process…

Instead of executing a gap analysis, which is how most people approach change, we think about the upside and downside of their preferred value or pole in the polarity equation. We then do the same for the countervailing pole. Then, as the diagram illustrates, we outline action steps for gaining the upsides from each pole. We also design strategies for avoiding the downsides of each if we over-focus on one pole to neglect the other.

That is “and” thinking.

Once we get the tension right between the different energetic poles, my clients find themselves comfortably resting in a virtuous cycle. They begin to get the best of both options, no matter how opposite those options seem. For many leaders, this comes as such a relief. Because those leaders, rather than focusing on the power of both – the “and” – tend to over-focus on one side of the equation. They then find themselves in a vicious and contentious cycle that isn’t good for them, their fellow leaders, or their teams.

Harness the power of both poles. Expand your thinking to “and.” You’ll soon create a virtuous cycle that will enable your organization to thrive, freeing your teams to unify under healthy “and” tensions versus the opposing camps that can form from “or” decisions.

Link(s) to Article:
https://talentculture.com/and-thinking/

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04 Apr

It is Definitely the Time to Redefine Networking

By admin In Career, Career Transition, Leadership, Networking /   No Comments

With the COVID19 pandemic dramatically reshaping the once-hot job market, today’s C-Suite in transition must master the art of networking. For many executives in job search mode, reaching out to strangers is a misunderstood opportunity to share rather than to ask. Shields Meneley Partners’ Principal and Executive Coach Elizabeth Olson discusses how she helps her high-powered clients to reap the rewards of this powerful tool.

Whether the job market is robust or weak, virus-challenged or not, being a good networker is imperative. When we work with individual clients, more often than not they do not understand what networking actually means. Many think of it as a sleazy or a dirty endeavor focused on asking for favors. To be sure, when you ask someone you do not know to spare his or her valuable time with you, there is a level of goodwill that is being asked however, the real purpose is different and has generosity at its core.

That is why I want to change the term. My definition of networking is: cultivating current friendships and building new relationships for mutual benefit. Positive relationships include give-and-take. That means you have something to offer the person with whom you are talking, be it sharing your own experiences, information, advice, and network. You need to have the mindset that this is a two-way conversation that just by talking to another person, it is going to be mutually beneficial if you are being authentic.This is the opposite of selfishness.

Here is my laundry list of what networking is not:

  • Networking is not arrogance
  • Networking is not self-promotion or pretending to be someone you’re not
  • Networking is not collecting business cards or followers on Twitter, or friends on Facebook
  • Networking is not selling
  • Networking is not about a number’s game or throwing spaghetti against the wall
  • Networking is not just for senior executives, salespeople, and the gifted few
  • Networking is not just for extroverts
  • Networking is not only attending events or playing golf
  • Networking is not only used when you lose a job
  • Networking does not create instant connections
  • Networking is not only with people that you don’t know
  • Networking does not mean you have to be out every night
  • Networking is not brown-nosing

I’m promoting the idea of asking for advice and offering it when asked, which is about growth and advancement. People are attracted to learning, growth, and advancement. It is this subtle mind shift that I try to get across in sessions with clients. Instead of networking feeling inauthentic, what makes it authentic is discovering similar worldviews, similar aspirations, and similar values.

It does require forcing a new mindset. You have to literally stop and say, “I have the opportunity to share my learning with other people and these are people that I have things in common with. Perhaps we’re in business or philanthropy, or we’re in the same city, or in the same industry. We are inevitably having common problems and challenges that we deal with.” You really have to stop your amygdala from going to the fight-or-flight response, and use your executive function to remind yourself why people want to talk with you, the value you’re bringing, and that you’re not just taking, you’re a giver also.

I always suggest finding a higher purpose for the meeting, and during this time of health and economic challenges, this must be top of mind. A higher purpose of learning about people’s family, sharing the “why” of what drives each of you, and sharing your network with other people. As soon as you link in, or LinkedIn, with people, you’re sharing your network with other people, that’s of value to them and by you getting to know them a bit, you’re going to expand your network to them.

Instead of feeling needy and less than the people with whom you are networking, when seeking new opportunities you can reach out with a real sense of gratitude for having the time to connect with each person. That’s a big mind shift–it is all about reframing the activity of networking to one of generosity from one of selfishness.

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15 Aug

Want to Have a Diverse and Inclusive Leadership Team? Try These Three Steps

By admin In HR, Leadership /   No Comments

When it comes to diversity and inclusion in the C-Suite it is a national embarrassment where the lack of representation has reached epidemic proportions. According to the latest data for Fortune 500 companies there are only 31 female chief executive officers and of this group only two are women of color. What’s more, there is not a single African-American woman CEO. Right now, there are only four African-American men in the top leadership spot and by the end of this year that number will most likely fall to only three when Ken Chenault retires from American Express. As of January 2016, there were only nine Hispanic CEOs.

There are a number of moral and ethical reasons to have a more diverse leadership team, of course, but there are also true, long-term business drivers that positively impact earnings. As a recent Harvard Business Review study tells us, when corporate leadership, including the CEO, board and other C-Suite positions, increases to only a 30 percent female share, there is a one percent rise in net margin, which translates into a whopping 15 percent increase in profitability.

We recommend three impactful and effective steps leadership teams should take to foster a healthy diverse and inclusive culture.

1. Successful Succession

There is no quick fix when it comes to ensuring a truly robust, diverse, and inclusive team built to lead in the future. CEOs need to commit themselves and their management teams to a long-term plan that includes bringing in new hires from outside the company who are identified as real leaders and groomed as such. No “token hires” here.

Another important part of this is for an executive assessment program to be instituted at the time of hire with continual implementation because this will help to match candidates with company cultural fit. One of the most impactful payoffs to executing this strategy is that employees are far more likely to stay with their employers rather than move to another company because they know they are valued. They sense they are being groomed for future leadership positions because current management sees their potential. As a result, these talented employees will more likely stay onboard.

2. Search Firm Collaboration

When CEOs and CHROs collaborate with executive search firms to build a pipeline of talented, diverse candidates, great results arise. That’s because these third parties become truly part of the solution. A successful candidate search starts at the spec level, so CEOs and CHROs need to partner with their vendors at the very nascent stages of the search process to set accurate qualifications that expand the potential applicants and outline expectations that a certain number of diverse candidates will be included in the talent pool. This does not mean a diverse hire will be made for every opening, but at the very least it ensures there will be a nice variety of candidates from which to choose. To be sure, of the entire group of potential hires, it is the best candidate who will earn the job offer.

3. Create a Coaching Plan

When it comes to hiring, succession planning and mentoring, there are a lot of hidden biases that majority leaders, both male and female usually just do not see. The good news is coaching can help to combat these covert tendencies if deemed a developmental need for the organization. Coaching benefits current executives as well as new hires into an organization because it facilities a level of introspection and an opportunity to take cognitive and very real steps toward a more egalitarian culture. Leadership assessment tools are also effective in vetting potential employees, evaluating management competencies, and selecting likely leaders for development.

Statistically, we know the situation at the C-Suite and the surrounding levels is moving too slowly, but the good news is that leadership today has the opportunity to seek out and leverage the power of a very talented group diverse, high-performing employees which, as outlined, is a true win-win for all.

This article was originally published by HR Leader.

 

Link(s) to Article:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/want-have-diverse-inclusive-leadership-team-try-three-elizabeth-k-/

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08 Feb

Premier Trade Group for Associations Publishes Shields Meneley Partners’ Guest Article About Steps CEO’s Need to Take When Assessing Senior Teams

By admin In Career Transition, Leadership /   1 Comment

AssociationsNOW Once Again Turns to SMP for Leadership Expertise

Late last year AssociationsNOW, the newsletter for ASAE, published a guest piece written by Shields Meneley Partners’ M. Bernadette Patton, CAE about how leaders can navigate an unplanned career transition. This time around, the global leader in association news and trends asked Bernadette to provide advice for CEOs in need of assessing his or her senior leadership teams. Bernadette was joined by SMP’s Elizabeth Olson, a certified professional coach, to tackle this delicate process through which every CEO should go.

You can download the piece in PDF form here.

M. Bernadette Patton, CAE

Elizabeth K. Olson, MSOD, PCC

 

 

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